Lost Paladins
by Rangergirl3
Summary: The Paladins of Voltron have been lost. Allura and Coran will stop at nothing to get them back. But Haggar has other plans. (In this fic, Keith is confirmed to be part-Galra. This fact will feature in other stories by this author). Set immediately after S1 finale. First in the 'Lost Paladins' series.
1. Lost Paladins

The Paladins were lost.

All the Paladins. Lost. The sight of the Lions whirling away into the corrupted wormhole, away from her and Coran, each of them seeming so small and fragile. The image was burned into her mind.

As well as the screams of the Paladins as they tried, without success, to keep from being flung away, out of their bays and into the unforgiving cold of space.

And it was her fault. They'd come to save her.

Fighting back a sudden overwhelming urge to cry, Allura tried to regain some small measure of self-control as she slammed a sequence of numbers into the castle's command board. This was no time for tears.

If this command sequence worked, it might help them regain control of the Castle of Lions before they fell into a star. The corrupted wormhole flashed out of existence above them as her frantic attempts to regain control of the starship succeeded, leaving the castle and the two lone souls on it floating in the deep, cold silence of space. Distant stars gleamed above and below them.

Beside her, Coran was saying something about how they could still make this work, that they could find the Lions, and with them, their Paladins.

She turned to him, eyes bright and full of tears. "Coran, it's not - it's not feasible for both of us to search. We have - we have to keep this ship out of Zarkon's hands - we can't possibly hide it long enough to leave it unmanned-one of us will have to stay here, and the other one can go look for them-"

Coran blinked. "Princess, do you really think I'd let you go out and search for them - by yourself?"

She felt the tears start to fall, and angrily tried to blink them away, feeling her mouth contract in misery and worry. "No, I - I just thought - since - since it's my fault they're - they're in trouble - "

Coran shook his head vehemently. "No, Princess. They went in after you because they wanted to. You should feel no guilt on that account."

Angrily, Allura swiped her tears away with one hand. "Coran, we have to get to them before Zarkon does - if he gets the Lions, _and_ the Paladins - Coran, he could destroy them all." Her voice shook as she thought of what he could do. "He might - he might torture them - "

Images flashed through her mind. Hunk, with his giving nature and gentle heart. Keith, his perpetual half-frown concealing an iron loyalty. Lance, who always made his teammates laugh with his jokes, who had saved Coran when Sendak's explosion could have made her the last surviving Altean. Pidge, with her quick, strategic mind and questioning nature. And Shiro.

Oh _no_. _Shiro_.

He never spoke of his time with Galra unless he had to, but her heart nearly stopped when she thought about him, recaptured and face to face with Haggar. The witch had clawed his side - he'd been injured - had her claws been poisoned? There hadn't been much blood, but -

With an effort, she pulled her thoughts back to the present situation. "Coran, we have to try and hide this ship, if only temporarily. After we do that, can you send out a signal to the Lions, tell them where we are? It would save time if some of them are able to make it to us - "

Coran's fingers were already typing out a complicated tracking sequence. "We'll have to try and locate them first. Once I map where they landed, we can send out a homing beacon to each -"

His voice cut off abrubtly. Allura turned to see his friendly face go ashen pale.

"What is it?"

Her voice was sharp, sharper than she'd intended, but panic swirled in her chest. "Coran, what's wrong?"

He stared down at the screen in front of him, as if frozen in place. She had to call his name again before he looked back up at her. When he finally managed to get the words out, his voice barely registered as a whisper.

"Zarkon. He has them."

"Who?!" Allura almost shouted. She didn't know which of the Paladins were now in Zarkon's hands, but it felt like an eternity passed before Coran's answer came to her ears.

"All of them."

She felt her legs give out beneath her, and she clutched at her command console for support.

"How-"

"He must have - have - sent every fleet - _every_ fleet - after them - " Coran said numbly. His hands slowly curled into fists. "They - they didn't even land. They - they all - were taken - "

Allura suddenly heard something - the comms, a distant, almost inaudible buzz. Her name.

Someone - one of the _Paladins_ \- was saying her name.

They weren't dead.

The Lions were captured, but not every Paladin was dead.

The person - who was it - said her name again, and she nearly cried with relief. She gestured wildly to Coran, pointing to her earrings. His face regained a fraction of its usual color, and he punched a button. The faint signal was now audible over the castle's systems.

"Allura-" the voice buzzed. "Allura - can you hear…are…there-"

"YES, YES I'M HERE!" she felt like screaming, but she regained some tiny measure of control and managed to speak in a normal voice.

"Yes, I'm here," she said. "Keith, is that you? Lance? Pidge?"

The voice cut out again, but she caught a fraction of the transmission. "-in space - Galran ship - tractor beam-"

It was Hunk. Hunk was alive. She wanted to cry with relief, but first she had to help him, however she could.

"Hunk, you're breaking up - tell us where you are, we'll come and - "

A burst of static, and then Shiro's voice, panicked. He was shouting.

"NO - ALLURA - CUT THE TRANSMISSION - IT'S A TRAP-"

Without hesitation, Coran slammed down a lever on his keyboard. The light in Allura's earrings died away. Horror-stricken, she looked over at her old friend, but he shook his head and pointed to a blinking light on her dashboard. It took her a precious second to understand, but then she did.

They had a track on the signal. They could follow it. Thanks to Coran's swift action, they had broken off just before the Galra would have found them.

She reached towards a lever on her control panel, keeping eye contact with Coran. She lifted one finger, to signal that she was going to open a one-way channel. He hesitated for a moment, then nodded his head, giving her what the humans called a 'thumbs up'.

He was confirming her theory. Keeping it only one-way would let them track the signal without being tracked themselves.

They could not be heard, but they would be able to hear what was happening on the ship that had tried to trick them.

Without further delay, she set the castle to arrive at the new coordinates. If they could keep an 'ear to the ground' as they approached, they might be able to find out more about the situation. She made sure to activate the cloaking technology Pidge had installed around the castle. Due to the recent battles the ship had undergone, it would only be functional for an hour, but once they arrived at the transmission's location, every second would count. And if the castle were seen during approach, the Galra might kill whoever they had prisoner.

As she took hold of the lever that would enable the sound system again, she clenched her teeth together. What they might hear could be maddening, but it could also let them know who was still alive.

 _Please_. Allura thought as she activated the one-way channel. _Please let all of them be alive._

As the castle's audio systems came back online, a horrible, raspy voice resounded through the echoing passages and empty hangars of the Castle of Lions.

"-lmost had a trace, but then my former _Champion_ had to ruin my plan-"

There was a crackling of energy, and a scream of pain from someone. _Shiro_.

Allura felt her jaw tighten in anger, but then another voice caused her heart to stutter a few beats. Keith. That was Keith.

"Hey! Leave him alone - "

Footsteps, a sound of impact, as if from a sharp blow. Keith's voice cut off abruptly, and Allura and Coran both winced, looking at each other in both fear and frustration.

"If only we could see - " Allura muttered - "we might know if Zarkon is also there - see who - "

She cut off, not wanting to say it aloud. _Who is still alive._

Coran nodded and began working silently, almost viciously at another of his control panels. Clearly his current inability to help the Paladins was causing him great distress. But with a few deft adjustments, he was able to bring up a video feed that showed the room where the witch was. They had been able to tap the feed from one of the Galra's monitoring panels in the room where they had also opened the one-way audio channel.

The video wasn't very clear, but it showed enough. A dark figure, in hood and cloak, was turning back from a machine that glowed purple with Galra energy. It was about the same size as the meditation circle that the Paladins had trained in together the first day -

Coran's eyes went wide in dismay. No, it was _exactly_ the same size of the meditation circle.

And there were five chairs inside that glowing purple circle. Each was occupied by a figure.

Coran and Allura glanced at each other in desperate hope, and Coran adjusted the feed so it came in just a little bit clearer. That was as much as he dared do without chancing discovery. If there were too much interference, one of the Galra drones might get suspicious. All they could do now was watch.

All five Paladins were breathing. The clutching, desperate fear that had grasped Coran's heart the moment the wormhole had been corrupted released its hold just a tiny bit. Then he got a good look at the circle, and he growled in anger.

The restraints that secured each Paladin's wrists and ankles to their chairs glowed with purple Galra energy. None of the Paladins looked like they were in good shape. Their helmets and armor had been taken away alone with their bayards, and they were all dressed in what Coran assumed to be standard Galra prisoner garb.

Keith had a split lip, like someone had punched him very hard, and he looked dazed. His eyes had difficulty focusing on any one object, and Coran didn't like the large greenish bruise that was forming on that side of his face.

Shiro was pale, his eyes closed, his face tight with pain, and his breathing was hitched. There were gashes in his side that Coran had not seen before, and he couldn't see any bandages or any other attempt to keep the bleeding in check. From the look of it, the gashes were recent injuries. If the wounds had not been half-cauterized, the blood loss would already have been substantial.

Lance's eyes were darting around, and beneath his attempted nonchalance, Coran could sense a deep and draining fear.

Hunk was shaking his head from side to side, as if he had been in a daze, and was having trouble focusing his mind.

Pidge's mouth was set into a hard and narrow line, and she was glaring at the witch Haggar with murder in her eyes.

"You used Hunk to try and trap Allura," she said, and Coran saw Allura raise a hand to her mouth in a dismayed gesture.

 _So that had been the plan. If not for Shiro's warning…_

"What of it?" the witch replied. "Now I have five Paladins to choose from. He seemed the best one for the task."

"…hey…lady…" Hunk said, and he sounded like he was half-asleep. "You can't just go….around…using people's….voices like that…it's _rude_ …"

"Dang right it's rude!" Lance joined in, nodding and trying to smile over at Hunk, who still seemed to be out of it. His eyes burned with a deep-set anger, but he was clearly trying to keep his voice light, to help keep his friend distracted. "What would that be called back at the Garrison, huh, buddy? Plagiarism? Vocal-napping? Somethin' nasty, I guarantee-"

He seemed to be about to go on, but the witch raised a hand and let a small ball of black energy pulse in her palm. Lance swallowed and was quiet. He exchanged looks with Pidge, and they each looked ten years older in that instant.

Fear did that to a person. Fear, and pain, and despair.

Coran felt his face contort into a ferocious snarl. He hated seeing anyone in pain, or in fear of someone else. The young ones were trying to be brave, but it was only a matter of time before Haggar accomplished something permanent.

Coran slammed a fist into the wall next to him, breaking through the panel and into the stone beneath.

No.

He would not let that happen.

A memory surfaced then, the memory of another promise he had made.

 _I will keep your daughter safe. I will not let the ways of Altea be lost._

He had to protect the Paladins. In the short time he'd known them, they had become much more than the pilots of the greatest weapon of the universe. They had become family.

It was not something Coran could bear to lose a second time.

Well, this time, anyone who stood between him and his family would suffer. Coran raised his eyes to the Princess, who was looking at him in a mixture of startled wonder and amazement. It was clear she could tell what he was thinking.

"Coran," she said, and something proud showed in her voice, "I don't think I've seen you this angry in ten thousand years."

"That's because I save it for the right occasion," Coran growled in reply. Allura nodded, a fierce smile crossing her face, because she knew the anger was not directed at her, but at what lay ahead of them.

"Then let's go save our Paladins."

A few ticks later, they had a plan laid out.

From the star maps, they could see that the Druid ship orbited one side of a great star. Once the Castle of Lions arrived on the other side of the star, it would remain hidden there while he and Allura flew a small cloaked shuttle nearer to the Druid's ship. From there, they would use the audio feed to pinpoint the nearest vent to the Paladin's location and cut their way in. The hope was to free the Paladins and get both them and the Lions out if possible, but if that were impossible, they would use a shuttle to get them and the Paladins away.

Then it would be a race back to the Castle of Lions, and from there, Allura would wormhole them out. If they got back fast enough, the witch Haggar wouldn't be able to fire her black energy beam at them again. From what little Coran had been able to see before the wormhole had been completely corrupted, Haggar had needed a direct line of sight in order to fire her weapon.

It was a desperate plan, but they didn't have time for anything else.

Just as the Castle arrived at the specified coordinates, Coran felt the ship's cloaking device hit the half-way mark. A thrum through the deck, and then a countdown ticker on the main control panel began to run.

Thirty Earth minutes.

Just that amount of time to get their Paladins back before -

He tried to put the thought out of his mind. If they weren't all back before the invisibility shield expired, none of them would never leave. Because he and Allura were not going to leave anyone behind.

"Let's go," Allura said, already moving towards the doors leading to the shuttle's bay.

Just as he was about to leave the room after Allura, he saw something on the monitor that made his blood run cold.

Haggar was walking around the circle, and she was placing a glowing purple device on each of the Paladin's heads. Pidge tried to shake the device off her head, but it was firmly bolted in place.

 _Oh, no_.

"We have to hurry!" He shouted, turning on his heel and racing out of the room. "She's going to try the mental exercise!"

"The - what?!" Allura panted as she tried to keep pace with him. "She's doing what?!"

"The mental exercise - the one where every Paladin can see into the mind of the others!"

"Oh, Quiznak!" Allura spat. "She'll try and twist it somehow - it's what the Galra do - we have to get to them, NOW!"

They both piled into the shuttle, and Coran activated it and took off at record speed, talking the entire time.

"That mental access - their inmost thoughts, doubts, fears - the damage it could do to them in her hands, it might permanently harm them, Allura - we can't let that happen - "

"We won't," she said. "I don't care how many Galra lie ahead, Coran - we are getting our friends back. I'll kill every one or anything in our way."

Coran glanced over at Allura, and just for an instant, the anger at the Galra abated, and he felt a surge of pride in his Princess. He may be one of the only two Alteans left in the universe, but Allura…Allura was a good companion.

"Princess, I am honored to go into battle with you," he said.

She looked over at him, and just for an instant, her eyes were warm and kind. "The honor is mine, Coran."

Then they both looked ahead, to the fleet of Galran ships ahead.

They were running out of time.


	2. The Witch Haggar

When Lance realized what the witch was doing, he tried not to panic. As the witch secured the device around Hunk's head, his friend seemed to realize something was wrong.

"Lance…?" he asked, sounding confused, and a little bit scared. "What's….what's…going…on?"

"It's okay, buddy," Lance said, trying to sound like his natural self, light and breezy and not-a-care-in-the-world Lance. "It's okay, we're - uh - we're - "

The witch finished securing the mind device on Hunk and came to Lance, smiling a crooked smile.

"- going uh— to - think about - uh, food!" Lance said, trying not to let the fear spill over into his voice. Geeesh, her eyes were _creepy._ "Can you do that for me, buddy? Think about - about your- your- "

His mouth went dry for a minute as the device settled onto his head and was buckled into place. He tried to shake it loose, just a reflex, he couldn't help it, but it was on tight. It reminded him a little bit of a bicycle helmet…if a bicycle helmet was glowing and evil and cybernetic and about to inflict some sort of awful pain on you.

Yeah, it definitely was _not_ like a bicycle helmet.

"- think about my…." Hunk muttered, trying to keep track of the conversation. Lance made an effort and swallowed down his fear long enough to finish his sentence - "- your -your -fav-favorite - recipes!" he managed, trying to grin over at his friend again, but he could feel that it was a shaky smile at best. "We - we can - com-compare - them - o-okay?"

That witch had really messed with Hunk when she'd used his voice. She'd used some kind of mind magic or trance thingy and just really thrown Hunk off his game. Hunk was really a lot smarter than people gave him credit for, but right now he was reminding Lance of when he'd gotten his wisdom teeth out, and had been on major pain meds. He'd been kinda hazy like this back then, too.

Hunk nodded, slowly. "Yeah…okay…sure, Lance….I can do that…"

The witch chuckled, and it was a very unpleasant sound. "How sweet." She finished making adjustments to Pidge's device (Pidge had tried to bite her the first time) and moved on to Keith.

Keith looked up at her, some of the energy coming back into his glare. "You…" he slurred. "Stay away from me…"

She cocked her head to one side, mouth curled into a sinister half-smirk. "No, half-blood," she said. "I look forward to seeing your mind most of all."

Pidge looked really confused. "Half - what? Keith, what is she on about?"

Keith, still somewhat concussed, managed to look completely perplexed. "No idea…Maybe she _is_ crazy…"

"Hey!" Lance shouted from the other side of the circle. Mentally, Pidge sighed, but she knew he only wanted to contribute, bless his-must-lighten-the-murderous-situation heart. "Half-blood is _not_ an acceptable word at Hogwarts! You - you take that back - Umbridge!"

There was a snort of laughter from Pidge, and a delayed giggle from Hunk. "Nice one, Lance," Hunk said. "Classic."

The witch ignored the blue one's ramblings and took pleasure in securing the device to the Red Paladin's head.

Keith winced and drew in a sharp breath as the tight device put pressure on the bruised side of his face. On the bright side, the pain helped him focus. Sort of. _Ow_.

"Crazy _would_ be normal for evil witches," Pidge said, almost conversationally. Keith was still having trouble focusing on anything for more than a minute, but he could swear Pidge was trying to help distract him from the pain this freaking dumbass helmet was causing him. She and Lance had that in common. He still found it _slightly_ annoying, but he appreciated the effort. Especially given their current circumstances, which were…pretty dire, to be honest. It was unlikely any of them would make it out of this room alive.

Unaware of his pessimistic expectations, Pidge continued talking. "Although that _is_ a stereotype, and Lord knows that's not always the case. I mean, Allura's a princess, but she's far from stupid or helpless. It's refreshing, really-"

Keith managed to shoot Pidge a rare half-smirk, in an attempt to convey his appreciation for the distraction, but he suddenly stiffened and scowled at Haggar as she approached the last Paladin. Shiro's eyes had drifted half-shut some time ago. The adrenaline rush of earlier had long since faded, and the pain of his injuries was surely quite draining.

She locked the fifth and final device into place and then stepped back, as if to appreciate a final puzzle piece falling into its designated spot.

" _Champion_ ," she crooned, and Shiro's head jerked fully upright, his eyes wide and scared.

Keith hated seeing the witch bait Shiro this way. His anger temporarily got the better of him, and he spat out the first thing he could think of.

"Hey!" he growled, trying to get her attention, to distract her from his old friend. "His name's _Shiro_ , you sadistic old hag!"

"Keith!" Pidge hissed, looking truly scared for the first time. " _No_!" She had a feeling she knew what this witch would do, and Haggar did not disappoint.

The witch turned to look flatly at Keith, who glowered back, anger flaring deep inside his chest. He didn't regret saying that to her, no matter what she did to him for it. Anyway, it was all factually true.

She saw his thoughts in his glare, smiled, turned slightly to one side, and, reaching out behind her with one hand, clutched Shiro by the throat. Shiro's eyes went wide in panic, and he tried to wrench free. With apparent ease, she slammed his head against the back of his chair and flexed her fingers, still smiling coldly at the rest of the Paladins. With her hand clutching his throat, Shiro couldn't look away from his team, and Haggar leaned slightly closer to him.

"What is your name, _Champion?"_ Haggar purred. She wanted the others to see him break, see the defeat in his eyes, hear it in his voice. It would most certainly be the beginning of the end for the team, a sort of chain reaction, and one that she very much wanted to observe first-hand.

Shiro tried to swallow, couldn't, and began to feel dizzy, but he tried to keep his eyes locked onto the far distance - the space on the wall between Keith's and Pidge's chairs, trying hard not to let his fear show. He wouldn't let his fellow Paladins see him break. He wouldn't.

"You - heard - him," he grated, feeling his muscles tighten in response to the fear racing through him. His heart pounded hard, and he felt the beat and thrum of the blood in his temples. "It's - Shiro."

Another slight tightening of the witch's fingers, and he couldn't stop himself from trying - again - to break free of her grip. No luck, of course. He coughed, feeling the beginnings of panic in his chest.

He couldn't breathe. He wanted to breathe.

"HEY!" Keith shouted. Pidge heard real panic there for the first time since she'd known him. "HEY! I CALLED YOU THOSE NAMES - YOU LEAVE HIM ALONE!"

Haggar turned her full attention to Champion, ignoring the red paladin. She could break him later. She _would_ break all of them, later. For now, she wanted to destroy their confidence in their leader.

"What. Is. Your. Name?"

Lungs burning, heart racing even faster, Shiro's gaze flickered between the other Paladins, and he decided that if he really wanted to undermine this witch, insolence would be the most effective weapon against her. He hadn't heard much of the other Paladins' conversations — he'd been drifting in and out of consciousness ever since he'd been blasted with black lightening for warning Allura of the trap - but he thought he'd heard Lance reference that magic book series, and that had helped some of the team… hadn't he said - Umbridge - oh, yeah - that one. Heh.

Okay.

So…what would the Weasleys do?

He shifted his gaze to the black robed figure standing beside him, and he glared as best he could up at the evil witch while giving her his most insolent grin, baring his teeth and narrowing his eyes in defiance.

He was the Black Paladin of Voltron.

He'd be damned before giving this hag the satisfaction of breaking him in front of his team. Even if it meant she choked the life from him.

"My - name - " he grated out, "is - Tak - ashi - _Shiro_ -gane-"

The witch bared her own teeth in frustrated fury. He would not break. His spirit was too strong.

But she _could_ break his body.

It would have to do.

The witch brought up another fistful of pulsing black light in her other hand and slammed it into his already wounded side with a hiss of poisonous anger. Shiro felt the wounds in his side reopen, begin to bleed again, some of them deeper, worse then they had been before. It felt like as if she'd taken several knives and twisted them into him.

Keith yelled something, his voice pitched high in panic, but Shiro couldn't hear the words. The sudden, blossoming, burning, wrenching pain was agony beyond anything he'd felt before. Losing his arm had been nothing in comparison.

Shiro couldn't hear anything now, couldn't see, couldn't even think. He didn't have the breath to scream, but he tried. This pain - it enveloped everything - he wanted it to stop - but it never would - everything was going red and black -

Then suddenly the witch was stepping away, her fingers releasing his throat, and he could at least get air back into his lungs.

Keith heard his friend gasp and cough and gulp in air as Haggar released her grip and stepped away from him, still clearly furious.

"SHIRO!" Pidge screamed. Lance's mouth was open in a mix of astonished horror and furious outrage. Hunk was staring, dismay and confusion on his face.

Keith bit his lip and blinked back sudden, unwanted tears as Shiro sagged back in his chair, still coughing, his eyes closed, chest heaving. There was a lot more blood on his tunic - oh, _god_ \- no one could lose that much blood and not need immediate medical attention - and he'd - he'd -

Keith couldn't talk for a few seconds, and when he did, his voice sounded faint, even to himself.

"Sh-Shiro- I'm - I'm sorry - "

He hadn't thought - he hadn't meant -

Shiro shook his head in a tight gesture, and for a moment, Keith thought his friend was telling him not to say anything more, to stop making it worse. But then Shiro half-opened one eye and shot him a very quick, brief half-smile, very tight and full of pain, but still _him_ , still Keith's friend, still _Shiro_.

"It's - not - your fault - she can't - keep - my name - straight," he managed as he got his breath back. Blood began to trickle out of his mouth, and he coughed again, spitting blood to one side.

He was white as a sheet, clearly still in intense pain, but his gaze was steady now, and he had just tried to make a joke.

A joke. After _that_.

Keith just stared back at him and felt the tears well up again. Pidge gave a half-defiant, half-frantic laugh, and Lance, for once, couldn't say anything. His throat was too tight.

"Well then, _Champion_ ," Haggar said, ignoring Shiro's attempt at needling her, but maliciously taking pleasure in the situation, "I think it's time your little friends learned the true power of the Galra Empire."

With some difficulty, Shiro turned his head to look at her, and, for the first time, seemed to realize exactly what Haggar meant to do.

Hangar smiled at the expression on Shiro's face, the mix of emotions in the other Paladins' faces. The way his eyes flicked to each member of his team, as if desperately trying to say something to each of them in the few seconds remaining.

"Shiro - what does that mean?" Hunk asked, his eyes finally beginning to clear.

The Black Paladin tried to answer, but with a hiss and a buzz, the helmets activated. Gleaming, shuddering purple lights began to pulse on each device, and the Paladins of Voltron suddenly found themselves in a nightmare.

 _Shiro_

 _He was at the Garrison, preparing for the Kerberus mission. Matt and Sam were helping him, and they were smiling, laughing, joking._

 _He was in a new place, a strange place, waiting to enter an arena that smelled of fear and death, and Matt was going to die unless he - unless he went first._

 _Fighting in the ring, gaining scars, dealing pain and death._

 _Trying to escape the first time, unable to make it past the last group of guards before being overpowered._

 _Experiments, losing his arm, solitary isolation, being called Champion as if it were his real name - but eventually, that's all he was. Champion._

 _Leading the Galra Empire straight to Earth, destroying the Garrison, the only people who could have defended the planet against the Galra Empire._

 _Discovering four cadets had found the Blue Lion, hunting them down throughout the universe. Keith, Lance, Pidge, Hunk, dying by his hand._

 _He was Champion. He feared nothing, felt no pain, and had no one._

 _He was alone._

Shiro felt the old fears surge up, his terror and his pain. He screamed and tried to wake up from this nightmare, the one he had had many, many times. But he could not wake up, and no one heard his screams.

 _Keith_

 _He was watching his parents leave for work, waving goodbye through the window._

 _Heard something shriek and crash outside, ran outside and saw the fiery wreckage of what had been their car._

 _He couldn't understand why people disliked him. It's not like he tried to push them away._

 _He was at the Garrison, and he'd just made his first friend._

 _His only friend was dead, dead and gone, and he'd never see Shiro again._

 _He had found his friend, and gained others, but he could do things they couldn't. He could open Galran doors. How was that possible?_

 _He'd been burned, but he had seen purple underneath the burns, and then healed like no human could._

 _He'd caused the witch to hurt Shiro. Again._

 _He couldn't protect his parents. He couldn't protect Shiro. He couldn't protect anyone._

 _He was Galra._

Keith felt his the bottom drop out of his stomach, and he tried desperately to deny something he had begun to wonder, ever since he'd learned of the Altean's ability to shapeshift. No.

He couldn't be Galran.

But if — if they could shape shift as well - it would explain a lot.

Why no one had really heard of his dad, even though he was in the space program. Why people thought Keith was so strange, with his lack of social skills and his natural affinity with difficult technology. And why he was able to open Galra doors. And fight like a Galran soldier.

He wasn't a defender. He was a destroyer.

Keith felt everything he once held dear drop away from him, and he was left alone and desolate. Again.

 _Lance_

 _He was with his family on the beach, swimming and running and laughing._

 _He was going off to Garrison, to become a real pilot. His family was so proud._

 _He was piloting the Blue Lion, but it was far, far away from Earth. From home._

 _His family didn't know where he was, or why he would leave them. They looked and looked for him, but there were never any answers._

 _They thought he ran away, that he didn't love them enough to stay._

 _When the Galra attacked, they died thinking he abandoned them._

 _He's never able to tell them what they mean to him._

 _He always talks, but when it matters most, he can't say what he wants to._

 _He can't tell his team what they mean to him._

 _His team is gone, Earth is gone - and he's left all alone._

 _He's alone, and everything is silent._

Lance felt his vision blur, and everything he tried to be, everything he was - funny, smart, witty, clever - melted away, and he was left alone in silence. He cried, but he knew there was no one around who could hear him.

 _Pidge_

 _She's having dinner with her family, the night before her father and Matt leave for the Kerberos mission._

 _She's watching the news with her mother. Hot tears sting her eyes, and she knows something's not right._

 _She finds the information she needs, but it's not enough._

 _She finds the ship her brother and father were on, but they're gone. When she finally finds where they were sent, she flies there…and discovers only two human skeletons on an alien planet._

 _She fights for vengeance, but is lost in the war against Zarkon._

 _Back on Earth, her mother never knows what happened to her daughter._

 _She's failed the people closest to her. Her family, her friends._

 _She didn't do enough, and those closest to her suffer._

Pidge screamed to the sky, a lost, wordless cry of pain and fury. All her questions, all her searching, nothing could ever be enough to fill this emptiness. She screamed until her voice gave out, then curled into a ball and tried to hide from the cold, empty world. No one was left. No one was left to care.

 _Hunk_

 _He was joining the Garrison, and his motion sickness was not going to get in the way this time._

 _His disability made him a terrible choice for a partner, but Lance picked him anyway._

 _He tries to improve, to practice, but even the medicine he takes only works for so long._

 _He knows the mechanics. He's not stupid. Just motion-sick._

 _He's too slow, his Lion is sturdy, not fast._

 _He can't save Lance from the missiles._

 _He didn't get back to the Balmera in time to save Shae and her people._

 _He almost lead Allura into a trap._

 _He's the weak link._

Hunk felt his heart begin to ache, and he felt something in his spirit begin to shake and shiver apart.

He was the weak link.

He couldn't contribute anything important to the team.

No, that couldn't be true - he did his best, and even if he wasn't the fastest or the best, he was still important.

He tried to remember something good, something that would prove, absolutely prove that he wasn't 'the weak link' in the team.

He was the leg. He'd yelled that, yeah, he had yelled that once. The team - the team had had fun over that later.

He grinned to himself. Yeah, that had been pretty funny.

Legs were important.

As he grinned at that memory, he found himself remembering something else. A sunrise, on a crystal planet. And beside him - Shae. He _had_ gotten back in time to save her. Him, and the rest of the team.

The rest of the team.

Hunk blinked a few times. Suddenly, he was - well, he _had_ technically been awake already, just more 'in the mind zone' - but he was aware of the outside world now.

Oh, Quiznak.

That's right. They were all in a Galran ship. And they were in a Galran-contaminated mindmeld.

Oh, _Quiznak_.

From the looks of things, it was bad. As in - Coran's healthy food goo just hit the fan kind of bad.

Most everyone else's eyes were closed. He must have broken out of the deeper part of the mind-meld - but no one else had. It looked like they were in trouble.

Silent, steady tears poured down Pidge's face, Lance's lip was trembling and his hands were twitching, Keith was ramrod straight with his eyes open but completely unseeing, and Shiro was - there was a witch standing right by Shiro's chair. She was leaning forward and saying something really creepy, like "Show them, _Champion_ , show them the true power of the Galra Empire…"

Oh, man - poor Shiro. He looked really bad - his side was bleeding, sweat was standing out on his forehead, and he was just barely shaking his head side to side, trying not to listen to the scary lady. He was really, really pale, too - oh - that was _way_ too much blood spreading across his tunic -

Hunk blinked again, only just remembering not to say anything. If he really wanted to help his friends, he'd have to focus his mind on reaching them…

Inwardly, he gulped.

Reaching them through the mind meld.

Oooooooooh boy.

Nothing for it but to do it.

He closed his eyes again, furrowed his brow in concentration, and reached out to Lance first. He'd known Lance for years, and he couldn't pull everyone else out of this alone. He needed his team.


	3. Deepest Fears

_Lance._

Lance looked up, tears streaming down out his face. He wiped his nose on the arm of his favorite blue jacket. The waves crashed on the shore, but it was a lonely sound.

"Hunk?" he asked, not sure if his old friend was really there.

 _Hey, buddy - it's me. We're in some kind of weird Galra mind-meldy-thingy._

"We are?" Lance asked the empty air. He felt kinda stupid talking to thin air, but anything beat the horrible, lonely silence he'd felt up until a second ago.

 _Yeah, it's pretty strange. I think they're making us all freak out about our inmost fears or something?_

Lance sniffed again and wiped his eyes on his shirt sleeve. "Yeah…I mean, it sounds about right. But weren't you able to see mine just now? I mean, if this works anything like the Altean mind thing-"

 _Oh, yeah, I mean, I did, but you know, I kinda figured that was your private stuff, you know what I'm saying? I'm just trying to be here for you, so you know you're not alone, and…um…you know. Friend stuff._

Lance felt something lighten in his chest.

"You're saying I'm not alone?"

There was the sound of a huffing breath, as if Hunk was saying, _"Really, dude?"_ followed by:

" _Really, dude? We have gotten into _way_ too much trouble for you to be alone. I'm here for you, buddy. Always will be."_

Lance grinned, getting slowly to his feet, starting to look around himself again, more closely.

Oh, yeah, this _was_ a mind-meld. It wasn't - it wasn't real.

Earth still existed. And he wasn't alone.

They could make this work.

"Hunk, you're really good at pep talks, you know that, right?" he asked to the thin air, and suddenly Hunk was standing by him, grinning widely.

"Aw, yeah, but you know, we've _really_ got to get the others out of their mind Hells now," he said seriously. "Honestly, if I thought we could do it faster, we could each take one or two people, but I think it's going to take all of us to get through to Shiro. That witch is right by him, so we gotta get Pidge and Keith first-"

"Right," Lance said, and his voice was stronger now. "Let's grab Pidge - she made Keith laugh a few minutes ago - well, sort of smile - but you know, that's big - for Keith, I mean - maybe she'll help us get through to him - but let's do this thing _fast_."

"Heck yeah," Hunk agreed. "Our friends are in pain, man, and I mean - like, awful, _awful_ pain. So let's get cracking, okay?"

"You got it!"

With a figurative spin on the heel, Lance and Hunk disappeared/reappeared in Pidge's mental landscape.

 _Pidge!_

Pidge curled tighter into a ball. Great, now she was hearing things.

 _Katie!_

"Go away," she growled.

" _Can't,"_ one of the voices said, and she recognized it as Lance's. " _I mean, we literally can't. We're all kinda stuck in this until you decide it's okay to leave."_

"Okay to leave - okay to lea — okay - what kind of BS is this?!" Pidge's head shot up in habitual annoyance.

 _Well, not to be too confusing, but we're all stuck in a Galran-infected mindmeld. Like the castle, only mental. So yeah, if you could help us out,we'd love that,"_ said Hunk's disembodied voice.

"What do I have to do?" Pidge asked. It couldn't hurt to humor the voices. Wow, she _was_ crazy.

But it beat being alone. And maybe…maybe she wasn't.

" _Well, based on your personal picture of Hell, you could listen when we tell you we care,"_ Hunk's voice said, very soothingly. _"And we want to help you get answers."_

" _Answers like: who's the most determined gal we know? Katie Holt, that's who!"_ Lance's voice chimed in.

" _And that you'll absolutely find your family, and we'll always be here for you,"_ Hunk continued. "And _I'm not trying to rush you here, but…Keith and Shiro might be nearing the edge of sanity right now, sooooo…"_

Snorting, Pidge readjusted her glasses. "Yeah, okay, now I know you two are real. No way is something Galra that perfect a mix of adorable and annoying," she drawled, standing up as her two friends materialized in front of her. Lance and Hunk both grinned at her.

"Great!" Hunk said, pumping a fist in a victory gesture. "Just Keith and Shiro to go."

"It's gonna get bumpy," Lance warned her.

"Bring it," Pidge declared.

The three of them vanished and reappeared in Keith's mental landscape.

It was a desert, sand blowing everywhere, obscuring every possible visual landmark. As Pidge peered through the whirling sand, she saw Keith, standing about ten feet away, his back to them.

"Oh, that's not good," Lance said. "Come on, we've got to try and break through whatever obstacles-"

"Dude, we can't do that, it's rude!" Hunk interrupted. "We gotta reach out to him, let him know it's us. The Galra-"

The sandstorm died on the spot. Keith turned to face them, and his irises - his irises were glowing yellow.

What the hell…?

"Stay away," Keith's mental projection said. He shifted a few steps further away from them, turning his back on them again. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Hurt us?" Lance asked. "Keith, man, I know we annoy you sometimes, but come on, none of us believe you'd ever _hurt_ us."

Keith turned to look at them again, his irises still burning yellow. "I'm part Galra. I have to be. It's the only explanation for a lot of things."

Pidge considered this for a moment, then shrugged a shoulder. "Okay. So?"

Keith stared at her, clearly taken aback. "So?"

Hunk nodded. "Yeah…sooo….you're maybe part-Galra. You're still Keith, man."

Keith shook his head slowly. "But - I - Galrans - they destroy. I can't - I'm not - "

Lance took a step closer and put a hand on Keith's shoulder. Keith grimaced but did not swat it aside.

"Keith, _what_ you are doesn't change _who_ you are," Lance said. "Dude, I know next to nothing about this whole - maybe - Galra part of your heritage - but you've always been Keith to me. To us. And it's who you _choose_ to be that matters."

Keith stared at him for an instant, and his yellow irises began to fade. Pidge put a hand on his other arm, and he looked down at her.

"You don't need to hide what you are, Keith," she said gently. "You're still you, either way. We're your team. We're with you - to the end of the line."

Hunk sniffed and scooped them all into his arms for a quick but affectionate group hug.

"Pidge," he sniffed, "you are the best nerd girl" - here he sniffed again - "that I have ever met."

Pidge readjusted her glasses. "Thanks."

The hug ended. Keith backed a few steps away again, but this time it was due to his natural disinclination for physical affection, not some deep-rooted fear of harming them.

Good. It was back to normal, then.

"Shiro," Keith said, and his voice was strong again. " _God_ , how are we going to break him out? He's been subjected to this before - "

" _And_ the witch is right by him," Hunk added. "She's trying to sway him into showing us the 'full might of the Galra Empire' or something…"

Pidge shook her head. "That's bad," she said. "An empire that's conquered worlds and ruled for over ten thousand years? That's not something I want to see in detail - and Shiro's probably been trying to keep the worst details from us since the day he crashed-"

"AHEM!" Lance coughed. "Less talking, more going to help Shiro escape mental agony and/or encroaching insanity. Come _on_ , chop chop!"

"Just remember - we've got to stick together," Hunk said. "With the witch's influence, he's probably in really deep - so let's try just to send thoughts at him to start with. And if we try to remind him of the good stuff we've been through together, it'll help him remember who he is, and it'll also remind him that we're there for him."

The others nodded.

"Let's go," Keith said. With that, they all made the jump.

Mists. Mists and shadows.

That's all Shiro could see.

He didn't want to be Champion.

He wanted to be Shiro again.

But he could never go back.

He could never -

" _Hey, Shiro!"_ Keith's voice cut through the fog, and he was watching a younger Keith run up to a younger -

Wow. That was him?

" _Hey, man,"_ younger Shiro said. " _You ready to test pilot this racer?"_

Young Keith grinned. " _Is the youngest pilot in the history of space exploration my friend Shiro?_ "

He hadn't remembered how proud younger Keith had been to call him 'friend.'

It was kind of…heart-warming, actually.

And then another memory, distant and hazy - Keith had broken in to the quarantine zone to free him.

He dimly remembered a ride on a racer, and waking up on the only bed in the cabin to find Keith asleep on a chair across from him.

He felt a half-smile cross his face. That was a good memory.

Then another memory, more recent. Lance, when they were planning out the Balmeran rescue mission.

" _How about a siren?"_

" _What do you have in mind?"_

" _Wheeeee-oooooo, wheeeeee-oooooo-"_

" _Nope, not doing that."_

Lance had been being over the top on purpose, as usual, trying to keep people's minds off the upcoming danger. It was nice to laugh at those kinds of simple things again. He'd thought he'd forgotten how.

Another memory - Pidge hugging him.

" _I'm so sorry I doubted you - thank you! Thank you so much!"_

He hadn't been looking for a hug, he'd just wanted her to know the truth. That he hadn't attacked Matt out of rage, or anger, but out of desperation.

But he hadn't been hugged like that for…for a long time.

It had been nice. Really nice.

And then another memory, Hunk in the castle's kitchen, making the food goo more palatable. He'd saved a big plate of the stuff, covered it, and left it in the refrigerator unit, with a note saying: 'For Shiro - Our Space Dad'.

Shiro had gotten back late from patrol that night - he'd come down to the kitchen and found the plate with the note on it, and - well, he had teared up a little. Their - Space - Dad? He…guessed so…

And then there had been other memories, ones of laser sound comparisons, sword fighting where Lance shouted quotes from movies Shiro 'just had to see!', talking about the two month mission to Kerberos with Katie, telling funny stories of Matt and Sam, one-on-one Paladin training with Coran, Allura describing her home planet to him one night when neither of them could sleep and they'd met in the kitchen and just talked for hours -

Maybe he couldn't go back to the Shiro he had been.

But would he want to?

Would he _really_ want to?

Because if he did, he would never have ended up being a Paladin, or rather - _one_ of the Paladins.

He never would have had this family.

No, he couldn't go back to the Shiro he had been.

But that wasn't the idea of life, now, was it?

The mist in his thoughts cleared, and he heard familiar voices nearby. He ran towards them, feeling a grin spread over his face.

"There you are!" Hunk's voice bellowed. The other four Paladins finally appeared, and Shiro was beyond glad to see them.

"Nice work with helping me remember the good times," Shiro told them all as he reached out to clap them each on the back. "I can't really tell you how close I was back there to shutting down-"

Pidge cut him off by hugging him. Granted, she was about half his height, but it startled him enough for her to say, "We need you in our team, Shiro."

Then Hunk was hugging him too and Keith was punching his arm and Lance was thumping him on the back, and Shiro, as much as he wanted to stay in the moment, had to remind them of what was happening.

"Uh, guys…we're all still sane…which is great - but we're still in the mind meld," he said slowly.

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Hunk said, but almost as if he was realizing a sunny day was starting to go cloudy.

"We could just stay in here," Pidge suggested. "I mean, how are they to know we worked out the bugs?"

"They might notice…." Keith said regretfully. "I mean, if there's a distinct lack of insanity or panic attacks - kinda noticable."

"Or, we could just pretend to be absolutely crazy when we wake up," Lance said.

Everyone stared at him.

"That…." Shiro stopped, looked at the team, and felt a wide grin spread across his face.

"That's just crazy enough to work."

"Maybe," Keith said.

"Maybe," Pidge agreed.

Hunk shrugged. "I can't think of a better idea - I mean, would it work if we played dead?"

Shiro shook his head. "Let's not get too carried awa-"

Something - a sharp pain - lanced through his side, and he cried out, clutching his side and falling to one knee. He tried to catch his breath, but it was difficult. Looking up, he saw his team crowding in around him, faces worried, concerned.

"Listen - " he said. "The injury - I think - I think it's bad enough - to break through - look, when we wake up-"

Lance looked around, as if able to hear sounds in the distance. "I think they're bringing us _all_ out of the mindmeld, guys," he said. "Shiro, what do we do?"

"Go with - your idea, Lance," Shiro managed. It was getting harder to breathe, let alone speak. If the pain was cutting through the mindmeld, it might be bad enough to make him wake up first. He had to tell them, now, in case he didn't get a chance later.

"Act like you're still stuck in a nightmare, like - like you can't think clearly, or that you can't trust your teammates now. It might give us an opening to break free - if it comes, take it. Get to your Lions, and _go_."

"We break out as a team," Keith said firmly. "Whether or not you can walk, we're all getting out together."

Hunk nodded. "Kinda the whole point, man."

Shiro managed a half-grin that was half-fierce, half-proud. "Okay." He took a last deep breath as the world around them all began to fade into streams of light. "Let's do this."


	4. Jail Break

They came out of the mind-meld together. Lance opened his eyes first, remembering to keep his face frozen in fear as he did so.

Not that it took a lot of work.

Haggar was standing directly in front of him, right smack dab in the center of the circle.

Her eyes bored into his, and he gave a squeak of fear that needed no elaboration.

The witch chuckled.

"Nothing to say?" she asked, feigning surprise. Lance's mouth was so dry, he couldn't manage any words, so he just shut his mouth and stared down at the floor. Sweat beaded his forehead.

 _Act scared_ , he thought. _Check. Act like it worked, play along to her expectations-_

"Foolish child," she said, and her voice had darkened to something truly ugly. "Did you really think I wasn't listening?"

From across the circle, Lance heard Hunk inhale sharply.

 _Oh, crap._

They really were going to die now.

The witch glanced over at Pidge, who's eyes were just beginning to flutter open.

"This one," she mused, "is different from the rest of you. I think some experiments shall be in order."

Pidge's eyes flew wide open in shock and dismay, and she opened her mouth to protest, but Hunk beat her to it.

"NO!" he shouted. "You keep your slimy, witchy hands off her, you - you - "

He couldn't think of a word bad enough to describe the witch, but Keith interrupted him. If their only plan - weak as it had been - had really just gone up in smoke, he wanted answers.

"What do you know about me?!" he demanded. "What am I? How - "

The witch smiled again. "You are a truly fascinating specimen. I will take great pleasure turning you into my next Champion."

She moved towards the edge of the circle, robes swirling around her as she moved. As she left, she paused for a moment to look back at Keith, and her smile was very, very cruel. "I'll need a new one soon."

Then she left, presumably to get - whatever evil thing she had in mind - ready.

Keith looked over towards Shiro, and he felt his heart nearly stop in fear. His friend was sitting in the chair, head bowed forward, and he - he wasn't moving. The blood on his tunic had stopped spreading, but there was so much of it…and his eyes were closed…

"Shiro?" Keith asked, feeling his own heart skip a beat in his chest.

No, it couldn't be. They'd just been together, in the mind meld. He'd been - he'd been alive - he'd been - no - no - no - NO -

"Shiro?!" Pidge said, her voice trembling. "Come on, Shiro, say something -"

Hunk's face was drawn and worried. "Come on, man, let us know you're okay or something - a nod - anything!"

It was Lance who said what they were all fearing.

"I - " he swallowed, and his voice cracked, but he continued, trying to voice his thoughts - "I think - I think - he's gone - "

Keith screamed at Lance then, denial and panic making his voice almost completely unrecognizable, an almost animal-like roar.

"HE'S NOT DEAD! HE'S NOT! HE'S NOT!"

Keith kept screaming until he ran out of breath, and it was only when he gasped for air that Lance was able to cut in, his own voice harsh and raised.

"KEITH!" he bellowed, his eyes narrowed and his face pale, "I THINK HE'S GONE INTO SHOCK! "

Keith snarled at Lance, unable to process this idea through the panic pounding through his brain. Shiro, gone. Shiro, gone forever this time. Shiro gone - wait. What?!

"WHAT?!" he snarled, but the small glimmer of hope Lance had thrown in front of him made him wait for the answer, but he continued to glare at Lance with a look that would have killed a lesser man. Lance glared back, starting to explain, but Pidge cut him off.

"Stars and comets, Lance, YOUR PHRASING SUCKS!" she bellowed in exasperation as Lance tried to explain what he was thinking.

"My mom's a nurse - look, he doesn't have long, but I think we can still save him if we-"

Lance was cut off by the sound of an explosion outside the door leading to the room. Hunk craned his neck in an unsuccessful attempt to see what had happened, but suddenly there was smoke, and fire, and lasers. Like, a lot of lasers, and then Coran and Allura were inside the room, and Coran was barricading the door shut.

Allura ran over to Lance, ripped his headset off, threw it to the ground, and then used a laser-knife to cut through the wrist restraints. She put the laser-knife - it looked like a glowing Swiss Army knife - in his hand. "Free your ankles, then help me with the others," she said, and turned towards Keith, already drawing another, identical knife from her belt.

"Help Shiro," Keith said. "He's bleeding - he doesn't have long-"

Allura cut through one of Keith's wrist restraints, slapped the second knife into his now free hand, and turned towards Shiro, already opening a small kit at her belt.

"On it," she said. "Coran, how long do we have?"

"I'd say about thirty ticks at the most, Princess," he said, pushing the last piece of available furniture against the door and turning towards the Paladins. He held a laser gun taken from one of the drones, but he gave it to Hunk and strode around the circle once, seeming to attach something to each chair's base. Once finished, he hurried over to help Keith lift Shiro out of the chair and onto a stretcher, which Keith had found and brought over to the center of the room. Keith really didn't want to think about why the witch had kept one nearby.

Shiro lay on his back, his breathing shallow and his eyes barely open. Everyone stayed close to him, trying to help in some way. Keith had taken off his shirt and tucked it under Shiro's head as a make-shift pillow, Lance gently took the Galran device off of Shiro's head (and then had thrown it viciously it against the far wall, where it shattered into pieces), Pidge was helping Allura finish applying an emergency bandage to the wounds, and Hunk was standing protectively in front of them all, the Galran laser gun pointed at the shuddering door.

Allura finished tying off the bandages, but her face was grim. "Coran, we need to get out of here, now. He doesn't have much time."

"Yes, Princess," he replied. "All right, Hunk, grab onto me."

"Uh, Coran?" Hunk asked as he stepped back into the circle and grabbed hold of Coran's shoulder. "How are we getting out of here? The door's - well, not an option."

Coran smiled. It was somehow harsher than his usual grin. "We're going through the floor."

"Say what?"

"Tally-ho!" Coran shouted, and he activated the small, conveniently sized bombs he had placed on the chairs.

With a bang and a flash, they dropped a full story down, into a hanger bay full of already smoking ships and destroyed drones. Just before they hit the floor, five white beams halted their progress and helped them gently descend the last few feet to the floor.

"What the-" Keith looked up, and what he saw made his jaw drop open.

It was Red. It was - it was all of them. All the Lions had their jaws open, and that's where the - tractor beams? - were coming from.

They'd been part of Coran's plan.

"Everyone, get to your Lions!" Coran shouted. "Allura and I will take Shiro in the shuttle we came in. You and Black will follow us back to the castle. Move!"

With that, he and Allura had grabbed the stretcher and were moving quickly to a shuttle that was -

Keith blinked. The shuttle was half-in, half-out of the ship, right near a (now contained) breach in the Galra's hull. They must have piloted the shuttle right into a weak point, counting on the ship's automatic life-support systems to seal the breach so they could get in to save the Paladins quicker. And that had come _before_ they took out an entire _deck_ of fighters and drones. Which had been _before_ they made their way to the room where the Paladins were being kept.

Just how much fighting had these two done in the last twenty minutes?!

"What-" Keith began to ask, but Hunk shoved him towards his Lion and shouted, "Run now, questions later! Go go go!"

Keith stumbled into his Lion's already open mouth - what? - when had he asked Red to do that - and then the five Lions and one turbo-boosted shuttle were zooming away, towards the other side of the giant star.

Keith tried to catch his breath, shivering slightly as the cold air hit his bare chest. He already missed his bayard, and his uniform.

 _At least you are alive,_ a voice purred in his mind. Keith nearly jumped out of his seat before he realized it was Red, and that Red was talking to him. Actually. Talking.

 _My pilot is startled_ , the Lion mused. _But we have communicated before. Why is it different now?_

"You - uh - you didn't really - use words, Red," Keith said aloud. "How did you all come find us - I thought we had to - you know - _pilot_ you?"

There was a low, rumbling sound that Keith took to be a chuckle. _My pilot is young_ , Red said. _He will learn with time._

Sudden anger rose in Keith's chest, and he knew it wasn't entirely grateful of him, but he had to ask. _"_ Why didn't you come earlier?" he asked. "Shiro's really hurt - if you'd come sooner-"

Red growled, but not at Keith. _We were delayed,_ the Lion said simply. _The witch prevented us from accessing your location. When the Princess and Coran arrived, we were able to take - more direct measures to ensure your safety._

Keith thought about the hanger full of destroyed enemies and permitted himself a small, vicious smile. "Well, good job on that," he said. "Red…" he paused, then decided to just ask, straight out. "Am I - am I part Galra?"

 _I suspect so,_ Red answered. At this point in the conversation, they arrived at the Castle. Keith watched the other Lions and the shuttle make their way safely into their bays, and then Red landed in his own hangar, the doors slammed shut (good, no more getting flung into space), and the ship had launched into a wormhole.

As much as Keith wanted to continue this conversation with Red, he needed to check on Shiro first. He flung himself out of his chair, ran down the ramp, and headed for where the shuttle had landed. As he crossed towards the bay's door, Red called out to him.

 _My pilot?_

Keith turned. "Yeah, Red?"

There was a short pause, and it took Keith a moment to realize the Lion was uncertain of what to say.

 _I did not wish to lose you. I - I do not wish to lose you._

Keith felt something tighten in his chest.

"I don't want to lose you either, Red," he said, coming back over and laying a hand on the Lions front paw. "I'm afraid - I'm really afraid I might lose Shiro, though." He blinked, trying to hold back tears. "I - I messed up on the Galran ship - and - and - he's hurt really bad."

Red bent his head and gently nuzzled Keith's hair. It would have been frighting if it hadn't felt so natural.

 _Black's pilot will be fine,_ Red reassured him. _You are a good friend to him. Black knows this. The others know this too._

Keith took a deep breath, trying to regain his composure before he went in to see the others. Red nudged him towards the door.

 _Go_ , he said. _They need you now._

As Red watched his pilot hurry out of the room, he felt…something he had not thought he would feel again.

He cared deeply for his pilot.

Strange, to think he could.

But then, it had been strange to realize the Princess, the one charged with protecting the legacy of Voltron, had put the Paladins above the Lions.

It had been quite out of character for her. The Paladins, in the end, had become more important to her than her royal duty.

Not that the Lions felt differently than the Princess had. Something that could have called a smile glinted in Red's eyes as he remembered how together, the five Lions and the two royal Alteans had destroyed all who stood between them and their Paladins.

It had been a bad day, but it had worked out in the end.

Black had nearly gone mad with fear when her pilot had emerged from the witch's den, so still and pale. Perhaps she needed some friendly company.

If a Lion could sigh, Red would have. He was not…he was not the best at this sort of thing. Gold was much more of a natural. Still, he should try to help Black.

Tentatively, he reached out to Black. She might not want company, but on the other hand, he wanted her to know he cared.

 _Black,_ he asked. _Do you need me?_

 _T_ here was a pause before Black answered. _No, Red. I will wait for my pilot here, in my bay. But thank you for asking._

A thank you. From Black. That was…well, honestly, it was rather new.

Maybe her new pilot was having more of an effect on Black's personality then he'd thought.

Red allowed himself a satisfied yawn, twitched his tail, and settled down to wait for his pilot to return.


	5. Back Home

As Keith entered the infirmary, he saw Coran and Allura turn to face him. Their faces were paler than usual, but no longer pinched with that awful worry he'd seen earlier.

"Keith," Allura said. "You're just in time - he needs anti-toxins, to combat the poison from the witch's injuries. He'll sleep for two days, but he should be all right. I was just about to give him the medicine, but he wanted to see you first."

Keith nodded, pushing past both her and Coran, making his way to the cot where Shiro lay.

Shiro's eyes flickered open as he heard Keith approach. He looked right at Keith, and for an instant, Keith wasn't sure what to say.

" _Sorry, Shiro, for causing the witch to hurt you even more…"_

" _I really wish I hadn't opened my big mouth."_

" _Bet you're glad I'm your friend, right?"_

Shiro made 'the face'. The face that said 'Keith, for the love of God, stop blaming yourself for things outside your control.' It was a strange combination of a raised eyebrow, a mouth set into a half-teasing grin, and usually - a friendly slap upside the head.

And then Shiro was telling him that it wasn't his fault, and to stop blaming himself for everything, and it was just about time for him to get a haircut, because now he had _bangs_ , for God's sake, and Keith was responding in his usual way - grumbling and growling about stupid leaders who go and get themselves injured by the witch every time she was _anywhere_ in the vicinity, and that now _he'd_ have white hair too, with all the worry this really annoying protege pilot was causing him, and Coran smiled to himself, because he heard what they were really saying to each other.

 _She's a vicious witch, and nothing you said or didn't say would change that._

 _Never scare me like that again._

 _Glad you're okay._

 _Yeah, I'm glad you're okay too._

"-and now, for the love of all that is holy," Keith was saying, "take the gorram medicine!"

Shiro threw his good arm above his head, palm-up, in an exasperated expression that practically screamed: "I was _going_ to!"

But they were both grinning at each other, like only long-time friends could after just finishing arguing about completely stupid stuff at the top of their lungs.

Allura rolled her eyes and bustled Keith away from the bed. "You go and get some food," she said. "Hunk and the others are already in the kitchen - Coran, can you make sure Keith eats something?"

Keith snorted, but went with the Altean courtier down the hallway. As they neared the kitchen, he could hear the others talking, and Lance was asking Hunk if there was a way to create chocolate chip cookies out of the food goo, and Pidge was saying there was nothing to lose by trying. Keith shook his head, half-smiling, and glanced over at Coran to say something about how chocolate was a delicacy on Earth that was considered a cure-all.

He hadn't expected to see the expression on Coran's face - it was - it was -

Coran noticed Keith looking at him and quickly glanced away, brushing at his face with the palm of one hand.

"Ah, these space allergies!" Coran said lightly. He sniffed, then rubbed his eyes again. "Never can get rid of 'em - they always crop up after a battle with those Galra drones - maybe it's the dust from their ships - ah, well, nothing some dinner won't help, eh?"

Suddenly Keith realized how very much they meant to the Alteans. He decided he didn't have to tell Coran he'd seen the expression on his face.

Come to think of it, Coran had looked downright scary when he'd knocked down that door on the Galran ship. As if nothing would survive if it tried to get in his way. And Allura - she'd looked like anything between her and the Paladins was going to be turned to dust.

Hell, from the look of that hanger, it had probably happened.

He gave Coran a small smile - it felt rusty from disuse, but maybe…maybe it was time to change that.

"Yeah," he said. "Dinner might help."

He opened the door and held it open for Coran. "But let's avoid the healthy stuff, huh?"

Coran took on an air of mock affronted dignity as he strode through the doorway. "Oh! I see how it is - you Paladins - "

He was cut off mid-sentence as a giant gloop of food goo hit him in the face.

Keith slipped inside the kitchen, using Coran's flabbergasted, momentarily stationary figure as cover.

Well, he _had_ been a perfect target. Keith felt a wide grin cross his face as he ran along the wall, dodging Hunk's catapulted chunks of goo with athletic grace.

"GET THEM!" Pidge howled from behind the dishwasher, a cooking pot on her head as a helmet.

"THOSE ABOUT TO DIE, I GOOP YOU!" Lance yelled as with a fiendish smile, he dove at Coran with two fistfuls of the stuff.

With a swift kick that had to be based off of sheer reflex and skill, as his eyes were still full of the goop from the first attack, Coran swept a leg at Lance's ankles, causing Lance to overbalance and tumble into a heap, spilling his ammunition all over his clothes. He started roaring with laughter, even as the stuff got into his hair, and he turned his tumble into a roll, reaching for more ammunition even as Coran made his own move.

"AHA!" Coran shouted in victory, diving behind another set of counters and grabbing hold of a bowl filled with diced goop cubes. "I HAVE YOU NOW!"

Keith had managed to grab a spatula from the rack above the stove, and was now batting away attacks from both Coran and Pidge, feeling himself smiling again. It felt surprising good.

 _Let's see…_ he thought to himself. _How can I…_

With a swish and a thwack, he found himself fencing Lance, who had grabbed a long stirring spoon and was attempting to knock the spatula out of his hand.

"So what now, Jack Sparrow," Lance was shouting, eyes dancing with delight, "are we to be locked in battle until judgement day, and the trumpets sound, eh?"

Keith parried the next blow and then took on an on-guard stance, making a 'come at me' gesture.

"Or you could surrender," he said.

There was a delighted shock of surprise on Lance's face as both Pidge and Hunk let out delighted and incredulous "Whaaaaaaaaaa-ttsssss?!"

"What?" Keith asked, still grinning. "I see movies too."

Then Coran began barraging them all with the health-diced food goo cubes, and they had to band together to overcome their common foe.

It wasn't the training deck. But after their hellish experience, it was important to blow off some steam.

And a food fight sounded just about right.

In a few days, they'd have to get Shiro and Allura to do this, too.

Because it just wouldn't be fair to have them excluded from the family fun.


	6. Author's Note

Greetings, reader! Thank you for clicking on this story! :D

This story is part of a series, but it can be read on its own.

If you're new to these stories, or if you're wondering what order they go in, here's the order of my 'Lost Paladins' series:

1) Lost Paladins

2) Fever Dreams

3) Team Building Exercises

4) Pidge one-shot

5) Red Means Blood

6) Chocolate Chip Cookies

7) Quality Time (references my fic 'You Can't Take the Sky From Me')

8) Broken Barriers

9) On the Edge

10) Scavenger Hunt

11) Broken Paladins

12) Cabin Fever

and the newest two that I have just posted:

13) Adventures in Babysitting

14) Family Is More Than Blood

Yup...you can tell I really love the Voltron: Legendary Defender show, huh? :D

But please, feel free to read this story on its own merit if you like - I love it when people read and review my stories! :D :D

The stories in this series do build on each other, so it may make a bit more sense if you read the stories in the order listed above. I would hate for you to feel lost or confused. :-)

There should be some more stories coming - I never thought I'd write this many, but all of the encouragement and support from you wonderful readers led to _everything_ after 'Lost Paladins'. :D :D Your reviews and encouragement are the life-blood that help me continue to write this series. Thank you!

As always, reviews help me know what people enjoyed/thought was interesting - your feedback helps this writer stay encouraged and get more ideas! It really makes my day to read what people thought/enjoyed - and feel free to PM me if you like! :D :D

Happy Reading!


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